Device for gravity feed of gears to gear shaving tool



8, 1953 A. D. FQMONCRIEFF 2,649,032

DEVICE FOR GRAVITY FEED OF GEARS TO GEAR SHAVING TOOLS Filed June 16,1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. fl/exda/erlI/Vzrarlk/f MFA H5.

DEVICE FOR GRAVITY FEED OF GEARS TO GEAR SHAVING TOOLS Filed June 16,1948 Aug. 18, 1953 A. D. F.'MONCRIEFF 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fralf/VEKF.

Patented Aug. 18, 1953 DEVICE FOR GRAVITY FEED F GEARS TO GEAR SHAVIN GTOOL Alexander D. F. Moncriefl, Detroit, Mich., as-

signor to Michigan Tool Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation ofDelaware Application June 16, 1948, Serial No. 33,369

11 Claims.

This invention relates to feed mechanisms and especially to feedmechanisms capable of manual or automatic actuation.

An object of the invention is to provide a feed mechanism which iscapable of holding a large number of articles and of intermittentlydelivering a predetermined number thereof to a place for treatment.

Another object is to provide a feed mechanism which is capable of bothdelivering and positioning articles for treatment.

Another object is to provide a feed mechanism which is capable ofdelivering and positioning articles for treatment and of removingarticles after treatment.

In order to accomplish these objects, the invention preferably employs apair of gravity feed chutes having adjacent openings. One chutecomprises a feed hopper containing a large number of articles to betreated and the other a delivery chute terminating at the point oftreatment. A novel article transfer member, which may be manually orautomatically actuated by conventional means, delivers the requirednumber of articles from the feed chute to the delivery chute. Apositioning arm is linked to the transfer member in order to catcharticle sliding down the chute and position them in the proper locationfor treatment. Suitable means are provided for holding articles duringtreatment.

While the invention has many other applications, it is illustrated inconnection with a gear shaving machine. In this application, a preferredembodiment has the delivery chute terminating so that the position oftreatment or shaving is located slightly oil-center of the cutter on thedown-chute side. This places the gear being machined in an unstableposition so that after treatment the force of gravity, preferablyassisted by a suitably positioned jet of cutting fluid, automaticallycauses the gear to move downwardly away from the cutter into a suitablestorage bin.

An embodiment of the invention as applied to a gear shaving machine isshown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation with parts broken away of a gear shavingmachine having the improved feed mechanism associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken alon the line 3-3 of Figure 1 withparts removed; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged view with parts removed and parts in section ofa means for holding a gear during the shaving operation.

The gear-shaving machine I, which is described in more detail in acopending application, Serial No. 6,488, entitled Gear Shaving Machine,of A. Donald Moncrieff and James Martin, filed February 5, 1948, has arotary cutter 3 for shaving the teeth of a gear A.

The gears A may be fixedly positioned and held during treatment orshaving by means of the structure best illustrated in Figure 4. Thisincluded a reciprocable rod 5 having a forward end I of slightly smallerdiameter than the internal diameter of the gear A, a neck portion 9rearwardly adjacent to the end I of substantially the internal diameterof the gear and of no greater length than the width of the gear hub, anda shoulder portion ll adapted to abut the side of the gear. In operativeposition as shown in Figure 4, the gear is mounted on the neck 9 and theforward end i of the rod 5 is fitted into a bore !3 in a fixed block l5which is of greater diameter than the internal diameter of the gear A.The gear A is therefore clamped between the end of the block I5 and theshoulder portion ll of the rod 5 and in this position is capable ofbeing shaved by the cutter 3.

The rod 5 is preferably pressure-actuated by means of a double-facepiston I1 afiixed thereto in the cylinder Hi. Pressure fluid may beadmitted to either side of the piston I! by means of conduits 2| and 23.A suitable four-way valve 25 may be used to selectively connect theseconduits to the pressure or exhaust lines 21 and 29 respectively. Whenthe valve 25 is manually actuated to admit pressure through conduit 23,the piston I! and rod 5 are forced to the left to the operative positionshown wherein they are capable of holding a gear A during shaving. Whenpressure is admitted through conduit 2 I, the piston is forced to theright and the rod 5 is withdrawn from the gear A. The fixed overhangingarm 3! prevents movement of the gear A to the right on the rod 5. Thegear is thus free to be removed from the treatment position and bereplaced by another. V

The novel mechanism for automatically aligning another gear with the rodor arbor 5 is best shown in Figure 3. This includes a downwardlyinclined feed hopper or chute 35 which carries a multiplicity of gears Awhich rest on their peripheries. The chute 35 may be fixedly connectedto the machine I as by a bracket 36. Due to the inclination of the chute35, these gears are biased by gravity to roll downwardly toward theoutlet 31 of the chute. A second downwardly inclined delivery chute 39,which may be aflixed to the underside of chute 35 by a bracket 40, has

7% an inlet opening 4| located preferably beneath the outlet opening 3?.The chute 39 preferably terminates or has its outlet 43 at about theintersection of a vertical plane through the axis of the cutter 3 withthe periphery of the cutter. Just beyond the outlet 43 is the positionin which the gears are engaged by the rod 5 and shaved by the cutter 3.It will be recognized that the gears are unstable in this position sincethere is an unresisted gravitational. component of force acting uponthem. Hence when the rod; 5 is withdrawn from th gears they rolldownwardly into a third chute 45, which is suitably connected to themachine, and thence to a storage bin or tote box '41. In order toprovide an additional force for driving a gear into the removal chute45, the cutting fluid conduit 49 is positioned as shown in Figure 3 sothat the cutting fluid strikes the opposite side of a gear and thus, ineffect, washes it into the chute 55.

Means are provided for transferring a gear from the outlet 3! of thechute 35 into the inlet 41 of the chute 35. This preferably comprises asector 5! having a recess or cavity 53 in a lower portion of its outerperiphery which is adapted to accommodate a gear A. The sector 5| ispivoted to a suitable fixed part of the machine I as shown at 55. Thepivot point 55 is positioned so that in the upper position shown inFigure 3 gears roll by gravity into the recess 53 and so that when thesector is moved downwardly the recess will align with the inlet 5! ofthe chute 39 to permit a gear carried therein to roll by gravity intothis chute. The sector has a peripheral portion of reduced diameterwhich is pro,- vided with gear teeth as shown at 51. These are engagedby a rack 59 which is formed on the end of a rod 6|. The rod 5! ispreferably pressureactuated and for that purpose has a doubleface piston63 affixed thereto which is disposed in a hydraulic cylinder 55.Pressure is admitted to either side of the piston 53 by means of theconduits 61 and 59. A suitable four-way valve ll may be used toselectively connect these conduits with, the pressure and exhaust lines13 and i5 respectively. When the valve is manually actuated to admitpressure through conduit 61, the sector 5| is in the position shown inFigure 3 wherein the recess 53 receives a gear from the chute 3.5. Whenpressure is admitted to the underside of the piston 63 through conduit69, the sector is rotated downwardly to deliver a, gear to the inlet 5|of chute 39.

For the purpose of halting and positioning gears rolling down chute 39,a positioning arm 1! is disposed therein and rotatably connected to atransverse rotatable. pin 19 which is mounted in a suitable bearingaflixed to the machine I. Connected to the pin I5 on a side of the chute35 is a link 8! which is suitably secured to the pin 19 so as to becapable of pivotally moving it and which is pivotally connected at 85 toa second link 85, which is pivoted to the top of the sector 5! as shownat 81. Thus when the sector 5.! is rotated downwardly, this linkagerotates pin 19 in a counterclockwise direction to lower the arcuate gearcontacting portion 85 of the arm ll into the path of a gear rolling downthe chute 35. This portion 89 is so. arranged that a gear engagedthereby is in position to be mounted upon the rod 5.

In operation, it will be first assumed that the feed chute 35 is loadedwith gears A and, a gear is mounted on the neck 9 of rod 5 andv clampedby 4 pressure on piston l'l between the shoulder portion ll of the rod 5and the block l5. In this stage of operation, the sector 5| is in theupper position of Figure 3 so that the recess 53 is in alignment withthe outlet 31 of the feed chute 55. After the gear on the rod 5 has beenshaved, automatic means such as shown in my copending application,Serial No. 52,388, filed October 1,

'1948, or manual methods may be employed to actuate valve 25 to-connectthe conduit 23 to exhaust line 25 and conduit 2| to pressure line 21.This forces the rod 5 to the right while the gear A is held intransverse position by the overhanging arm. 3!. When the rod 5 iscompletely withdrawn from the bore of the gear A, the gear is forced bygravity and by cutting fluid from conduit 49 into the chute 45 andthence into the storage bin 41.

During or after this removal operation of the shaved gear, manual meansmay actuate the valve H to connect conduit 69 to the pressure line 13and the conduit 51 to the exhaust line 15. This forces the piston 53 androd 6| upwardly so that the rack 59, which engages gear section 51,rotates the sector 5! downwardly in a counterclockwise direction. Therecess 53 carries a gear A which it has received by gravity through theoutlet 31 of the feed chute 35-, and when the sector 5! is rotated sothat it is aligned with the inlet 4| of the chute 39-, the gear rollsinto this chute. The upper peripheral part of the sector 5i covers theoutlet 31 to prevent gears A from rolling out of the chute 35. Whilethis rotation of the sector 5| is taking place, the link which ispivoted thereto at 81 is moved upwardly and drives with it the upper endof the link 5| to which it is pivotally connected at 83. This rotatesthe pin 19 in a counterclockwise direction and thus lowers thegear-contacting portion 89 of the positioning arm 11 into position nearthe end of the chute 39 and into the path of the gear just releasedthereinto by the sector recess 53. The gear A is therefore stopped bythe arm Ti and positioned by the portion 89 just on the downward side ofa vertical plane through the axis of the cutter 3'. The valve 25 maythen be manually actuated to drive the rod 5 forwardly through the boreof the gear A, and While or after this has taken place the valve Tl maybe manually actuated to return the sector iii to the upper position andlift the arm T! from the gear being shaved.

It will be apparent; to those skilled in the art that the invention is.capable of many modifications and of various, other applications thanthe. particular embodiment for the specific applicae tion hereinbeforedescribed. Automatic operation of the. elements of my invention isillus. trated, in my copending. application, Serial No. 52,388, filedOctober 1, 1948.

I claim:

l.v A feed mechanism for articles to be treated comprising a first.downwardly inclined'chute having an outlet at the lower end, a seconddownwardly inclined chute having an inlet adjacent said outlet, a firstpivoted arm having means at the periphery thereof for receiving anarticle from said outlet and releasing it into; said inlet, means forpivotally moving said arm, a second pivoted arm located near; the outletof said second chute for positioning an article therein in properlocation for treatment, and linkage connecting the first arm to thesecond arm whereby the second arm is actuated to. position when thefirst arm is actuated to release an article into the second chute andthe second arm is actuated to release an article when the first arm isactuated to receive an article from the first chute. V

2. A feed mechanism for articles to be treated comprising a first chutehaving an article transfer opening at one end, a second chute having anarticle transfer opening adjacent said opening and having an outlet, amovable closure for one of said openings, means including said closurefor intermittently transferring a predetermined numberv of articles fromthe first chute to the second chute through said openings, an articlepositioner near said outlet connected to the closure and actuated bymovement thereof to block the path of articles leaving the second chuteand by abutment hold them at the place of treatment, and means forholding the article during treatment.

'3. In a device having a cutter for machining gear teeth the combinationof a first downwardly inclined chute having an openingat its lower end,a second downwardly inclined chute having anopening adjacent the otheropening, said chutes being disposed above the cutter, said second chutebeing constructed and arranged so that its lower end terminates near thedownward side of a verticalplane through the axis of the cutter,a'movable gear transfer member co-operable with said openings andcapable of intermittently receiving a gear from the first chute andreleasing it into the second chute, a positioning arm actuated by themember for receiving and positioning a gear near the outlet of thesecond chute at said lower end on the downward side of said verticalplane, and means for holding a gear during machining by the cutter.

4. In adevice havingv a cutter for machining gear teeth the combinationof a first downwardly inclined chute having an opening at its lower end,a second downwardly inclined chute having an opening adjacent the otheropening, said chutes being disposed above the cutter, said second chutebeing constructed and arranged so that its lower end terminates near thedownward side of a vertical plane through the axis of the cutter, amovable gear transfer member co-operable with said openings and capableof intermittently receiving a gear from the first chute and releasing itinto the second chute, a positioning arm actuated by the member forreceiving and positioning a gear in the second chute at said lower endon the downward side of said vertical plane, means for holding a gearduring machining by the tool, and a conduit for cutting fluid arrangedto direct fluid 0n the upward side of a gear being cut so as to impartforces thereto tending to move it away from the second chute.

5. A feed and article positioning mechanism comprising a firstdownwardly inclined chute having an article transfer opening at itslower end, a second downwardly inclined chute having anarticle-receiving opening adjacent and below said opening, a centrallypivoted member having a peripheral article-receiving recess adapted toco-operate in article-transfer relationship with the openings and meansfor receiving turning or pivoting forces, means for applying turningforces to said means to pivot said member, said chutes and member beingconstructed and arranged so that the force of gravity moves an articlefrom the transfer opening into the recess and from the recess into thereceiving opening upon alignment of the recess with the respectiveopenings, said member including a closure portion capable of holdingarticles in the first chute when the recess is in alignment with thereceiving opening, and a movable positioning arm having an articlecontacting portion disposed near a downward portion of the second chute,said arm being connected to and actuated by said member so that itreceives and positions articles when the recess'is in alignment with thereceiving opening and it is moved to inoperative position when therecess is not in alignment with the-receiving opening,

6. Ina gravity loading device for delivering articles to a workposition, the combination of an inclined chute for carrying articles tobe treated having'an outlet above the work position, means movable tooperative, and inoperative positions for holding an article in positionto be treated, a member movable to operative and inoperative positions,said member in operative position engaging an article delivered to themeans for treat mentand holding the article in the work position so thatthe means may be moved to operative position to hold the article duringtreatment, intermittently operatedv means operative to deliver apredetermined number of articles from the outlet of said inclined chuteto the work position, and means interconnecting the intermittent meansand the member so that they are operative at the same time.

'7. In a loading device for gear shaving machines or the like, thecombination of a down-'- wardly inclined gravity feed chute having itsoutlet above the place of treatment, first means operative to preventgravity fiow of articles from the chute, second means operative incombination with the force of gravity on the articles to deliverarticles one at a time from the chute to the place of treatment, thirdmeans to position articles at the place of treatment, fourth means forholding articles durin treatment, said third means comprising an armpivoted above the place of treatment and movable into the path of anarticle delivered to the place of treatment, means simultaneouslyoperating the first and second means and moving said arm into said path,and means operative during operation of the fourth means for moving thearm out of said path whereby upon completion of treatment the articlemay move away from said place of treatment.

8. In a loading device for gear shaving machines or the like, thecombination of a downwardly inclined gravity feed chute having itsoutlet above the place of treatment, first means operative to preventgravity fiow of articles from the chute, second means operative incombination with the force of gravity on the articles to deliverarticles one at a time from the chute to the place of treatment, thirdmeans to position articles at the place of treatment, fourth meansoperative for holding articles during treatment and movable to aninoperative position, said third means comprising an arm pivoted abovethe place of treatment and movable into the path of an article deliveredto the place of treatment, means simultaneously operatin the first andsecond means and moving said arm into said path, means operative duringoperation of the fourth means for moving the arm out of said pathwhereby upon completion of treatment the article may move away from saidplace of treatment, and a conduit for fluid arranged to direct a jet offluid on an article held by the fourth means so as to force the articleaway from the second means and thereby eject articles upon the fourthmeans becoming inoperative.

9. In a gear shaving apparatus having a rotary cutter, the combinationof gravity feed means having an outlet near the'top of the cutter andarranged to deliver gears to the top of the cutter, workholdingmeans forholding, a gear to be shaved in a position on top of the cutter with theaxis of the gear being shaved offset laterally from a vertical planethrough the axis of the cutter whereby the gear being shaved is. ininherently unstable position with respect to the force of gravity, anddownwardly inclined remova1 chute means adjacent but below the top ofthe cutter arranged to receive gears that have been shaved.

I0. In a gear shaving apparatus, the combination of an upright framehaving a horizontal table surface thereon, a peripherally toothed rotarycutter mounted on the table having its axis of rotation substantiallyparallel to the surface thereof, a first downwardly inclined gear feedchute mounted on the frame extending downwardly from the side of thetable beyond the axis of the cutter and above the periphery of thecutter, a second downwardly inclined gearfeed chute below the firstchute and having an inlet adjacent the innermost end of the first chuteand extending backwardly toward said side of the machine and having anoutlet position above the cutter, workholding means arranged to receivegears from the second chute and hold them during shaving, and geartransferring means for delivering" a gear at a time from the first chuteto the second chute.

II. In a machine having a rotary cutter with peripheral teeth forshaving the teeth of gears, the combination of means for feeding gearsto be shaved one at a time to a predetermined position on top of saidcutter whereby the gears rest on the top periphery of said cutter insaid position and the teeth of the gears and cutter mesh with eachother, said means including a positionout of its position of operativeengagement with a gear whereby upon retraction of said. arbor from thebore of a gear the gear may roll down the periphery of said cutter fromsaid position, removal chute means arranged below the top of said cutterin the path of and to receive gears that roll down the cutter periphery,and. means whereby a component of force is applied to a gear upon.retraction of said arbor in a direction to cause the gear to roll downsaid periphery to said chute means.

ALEXANDER D. F. MONCRIEF'F.

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